Unstable Transitions -Temporary Title?-
by DarkLordMephiles
Summary: A normal gamer, living a normal life - and within his DS, living another life entirely without even knowing it. What happens... when those two lives collide?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N - Hey, Mephiles here. Just felt like taking a quick break from bashing my head against the Metroid wall, and trying somethin' in Pokemon. I could ramble, and ramble, and ramble, but you just want to read. So go on; do that. And please review.**_

Hey there - name's David; though everyone just calls me Dave. 21, house of my own, and - heh, a pretty good life, altogether. Chances are, you know about Pokémon. You've played the games, watched the series or movies, or even played the trading card game. But no matter how, you know Pokémon - creatures with incredible power, insanely tough and surprisingly intelligent to boot. And, depending on the Pokémon, flat-out cool looking.

Of course, they're all fake - existing only in a series of video games or the minds of some little kids, right? Yeah... not quite. Not anymore. I know that... better than anyone. You don't believe- Hey, Aurora! Cool it! I'm _typing _here! You wanted me to do this, so let me type! Thank you. Anyway, Pokémon... aren't just digital anymore. They're real - and it's not going over well. But I'm getting ahead of myself - how about I start... well, where this all started. It was about two years ago...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Real World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Alright, Aurora - let's finish 'em off... Aura Sphere!"_ In my hands was the biggest time-sink ever invented - a Nintendo DS, and Pokémon Platinum. Shown on the screen - and, honestly, in my head too - my Lucario, Aurora, who I'd been training for... well, weeks... finished off the last of my opponent's Pokémon - Volkner's Luxray, if you want to know - with her signature move. Of course, in my head it was a lot cooler. The game couldn't mimic the _feel_ of energy swirling together, or the impact it had when it hit... ah, who am I kidding? It's a game.

Despite that, I was proud of Aurora - as I always was - for helping me finally beat Volkner. She may have ultimately been nothing but pixels, but... "Good job, Aurora." I said quietly, smiling. I got my badge, accepted the usual TM reward, and brought my team straight to the Pokémon Center. For whatever reason, I always feel bad when my team gets hurt - felt like there was something I might've done differently. But, of course, they never complained - even seemed happy, sometimes.

When the healing animation was over, I re-checked my team. At the front, Aurora - level 49 female Lucario. Next in line was Juggernaut, my level 47 male Aggron. Then Kairi - female Gardevoir, level 43. Finally - yeah, I only had four Pokémon with me at a time; sue me - was my very first starter, Verden. A Venusaur with a hell of a punch, he was an impressive level 96. I'd transferred him up through every game - even went out of my way to find a rigged up GBA/DS transfer cable to do it.

I always liked to think, in my own little world, each member of my team had a distinct personality. Aurora seemed like the proud and determined one - nothing would make her give in; she'd push herself to the limit on anything. Juggernaut would be the team's shield - literally and metaphorically; you hurt any of them, you'd have to get through him - heh, good luck. Kairi would probably be their sideline fighter, and maybe mother-like; keeping them in synch, and giving help from a short distance. And then there was Verden - the sort of mentor type, I would think. A Pokémon veteran, teaching the 'newbies' some new tricks; of course, he'd know there was more to learn.

And then, you have me. On a bus home from my part-time job - I was a grocery bagger; go figure. I was skinny, a little over 5'8, dark haired, and wearing a generic T-shirt/jeans combo. Hell, I even wore glasses to top off the 'nerdy one' image. And you know what? I was exactly what I looked liked. I would be content to plop myself down in my room - yeah, I still lived with my parents. - and play the hell out of my video games, try to make model star fighters... the works. But real life just can't be polite, can it?

Nothing interesting happened on the rest of the ride to my stop - it was a Votran bus, what do you expect? Although, there was what looked like an absolutely _huge_ storm coming in from... yeah, it was the East; right across the ocean. _'… Something ain't right about those clouds...'_ I thought absently. I'd always had this sort of... I don't know, 'spider-sense' for when shit was about to hit the fan. It was always vague, but helpful in its own right. And those clouds were setting it off like crazy.

I stepped out of the bus when it finally reached my stop - I had the good fortune of having one a short walk away from my parents' house. Half watching my DS screen and half paying attention to where I was going, I made my way up to the front door and unlocked it. "Hey mom - oh." I stopped when I noticed a sticky note on the inside of the door. **'Will be out for a bit - groceries. Be back around 8. Usual in the fridge. :) Mom' **

Quickly, I checked my watch - 6:28. "Awesome!" I said to... absolutely nobody, and nearly threw open the fridge. My 'usual' was a Mountain Dew, some BBQ-Twist 'chips', and a Snickers. Yeah, I'm still a kid inside, alright? But the reason this was so awesome was... I had the house to myself. Time to get some power-training in. I rushed up to my room, whipped out my DS charger and plugged it in - this was going to be a while.

I switched on my TV, just to have something beyond the soon-to-be repetitive Pokémon battle music playing, and started training. "Alright, Kairi... let's get you caught up." I talk to my game when I'm playing - sort of a habit by now; though I swear it helps. A critical hit right when I need it, a high-power move dodged by my near-fainted team members... it's almost like they hear me rooting for them. But hey - that's crazy.

I must've been training for a little over an hour when the program on TV - it was Adventure Time, by now - was interrupted by that loud, attention-grabbing _BEEP_ of a sever weather warning. **_Warning - A heavy thunderstorm, estimated to be of record-breaking intensity, is moving quickly inland. It is suggested to remain inside for the duration of the storm. Do not go outside for any reason._** The message repeated, over and over, for a full ten minutes before finally switching back to the show.

I just shrugged my shoulders and re-focused on my game. After all, we've got surge protectors on every outlet in the house, and I was sure that my parents would be smart enough to wait the storm out. They'd be delayed, but that just meant more training - and Hot Pockets for dinner. Yum.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Pokémon World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Standing on the sidelines, I watched as Kairi teleported away from another beam of light. _'Does that Roselia know _anything _beyond Solarbeam?' _I glanced over at our trainer - and as always, he seemed confident; even when knowing that we were battling a Pokémon far above our own skill, he was never worried. It was inspiring, in its own way. He had taught us much - the Human names of our abilities, how to recognize commonly used attacks and techniques... and he cared for us like family, unlike some more brutal trainers.

I only noticed Kairi was hurt when our trainer suddenly bolted forward, a small spray bottle appearing from his pack almost as if from nowhere. He quickly sprayed its contents onto a series of small punctures on the Gardevoir's side, and they healed over just as quickly. Within seconds, she was back in the fight with the small Roselia, and he was standing in his usual position. I closed my eyes, and tapped into the second 'sight' I, like all Lucario, possessed - Aurasight.

When I 'looked' at somebody, I could see their aura; it was a way of telling the core characteristics of an individual. For instance, Kairi's Aura - while several colors were present, two stood out among the rest: A vivid, glowing blue that was her caring, almost motherly nature. And a different, softer blue color, representing her normally peaceful mindset, her understanding, and ease at communicating clearly with others.

Then I 'looked' at our trainer - and saw something I had never seen before: Two, nearly identical auras overtop one another... like two near-twin minds, in one body. _'That is... not possible.' _I 'blinked', refreshing my Aurasight, but the phenomenon was still there - in fact, it was becoming more distinct.

"What is wrong, Aurora?" the gruff, grinding voice of 'Juggernaut' - our trainer's Aggron - asked from behind me. I turned my head to look back at him, opening my eyes fully - and remembered I had to look up, as well; Juggernaut, or Jagged, as he likes us to call him, was over twice my height and covered in heavy metal plating.

"… I do not know. Something is... strange about his aura." I didn't have to say who I meant - Jagged understood. I let out a quiet sigh. "I also feel there is something... unstable... coming to the world. I do not like it."

The Aggron nodded. "Yes... I can feel it too. It makes my plates itch." He looked up at the sky and crossed his arms - it was a very... Human posture. "Be on your guard. I do not know what is coming... but we must be ready for it."

I silently nodded, and turned back to look at Kairi's progress. She was doing well, all things considered - her 'dress' was torn in places, her skin burnt or scratched; her opponent was in worse condition, being knocked out on the grass with no visible injuries. As usual, the Gardevoir had won a fight without dealing any physical or permanent damage.

With a faint smile, I nodded again. We were easily going to be ready for whatever may threaten us.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - New chapter, and it's a bit longer than I thought it'd be. Not saying much, that, but there it is. Some stuff goes down in this one, and we get a new PoV to boot. But again, you just want to read the chapter. So I'll shut up now.**

"Shit - No, no no!" I cursed, seeing the one thing every Pokémon player dreads: **_Critical Hit! It's Super Effective! _**and, in my case, **_It hit 5 times. _**Kairi took an unlucky hit from the latest Roselia - Pin Missile, the most potentially devastating move for a Psychic type, I've learned. My Gardevoir's HP dropped like a rock, coming to a stop a _single_ _pixel _away from 0. I let out a sigh of relief, and switched her out for Juggernaut so that he could stomp all over it.

After the Aggron completely tore through the weakened Roselia, the message I'd been waiting for finally came up with its distinctive jingle: **_Kairi grew to Lv. 46! _**"Yes!" I brought up the menu, gave Kairi the last Potion I had - I seriously need to stock up more before power-leveling... - and had her teleport the team back to Victory Road's Pokemon Center. As I did often, I healed up my team and went to save. The usual **_Saving the game... Please do not turn off your DS. _**message popped up.

A bright flash of light from outside reminded me of the storm pouring rain down on the house - the clap of thunder seemed unnecessary. Like it was saying _Don't you even TRY to ignore me. _… I have way too much free time, if I'm giving voices to a storm. But that wasn't what scared me, shocked me, and above all got me _pissed_.

That flash of light... was a lightning bolt, unsurprisingly. More surprising was that it must have hit the power line right next to my house, because everything went dark. Including the DS I was holding in my hands. So I did what any reasonable Pokémon gamer would do - I flipped out. I must have blanked out for a minute there, because the next thing I knew my room was trashed. I overreact sometimes, alright? You would too.

When I finally calmed down, I checked the charger port on my DS. It was... well, I guess melted. The charger plug itself was in the same condition. And it was almost entirely dark in the house - though the fading daylight, or dusk-light, or whatever you want to call it gave my room a faint bluish light to it. "Well... that's just fucking amazing." I muttered, letting out a more-than irritated sigh. "Now, where's that damn flashlight..."

I stood up out of my 'gaming chair' - a beanbag chair with a GBA-print design, as fitting to a gamer. Grumbling to myself the whole time, I finally managed to find the flashlight I always kept in the room - never know when the power's going to go out, or some moron's going to try something stupid at night, right? I flicked on the light, and looked around for a minute. _'Now what the hell am I going to do?'_

After a few minutes of... well, doing nothing, I decided to try calling a friend of mine; maybe he still had power, who knows. I pulled out my 'cell and punched in his number, and waited... and waited... and listened to that quickly-irritating ringing. Just as I was about to give up, he answered. **_"Hey Dave, what's up? Call to get some sage wisdom from me, like always?" _**Yeah... Nick's sarcastic to a fault. And a self-titled sage/wizard combo. Go figure; he's a fantasy nut.

"Hey Nick. And yeah, actually. Power's out, and I think the surge fried my DS. Think I can drop in for a bit?" Actually, I wasn't sure _what _happened to that thing. Not sure a power surge should've melted... well, anything.

**_"Damn, that sucks man. Can't help ya much, sadly - with this storm, ain't nobody comin' over here. Power's flickered out a lot in the past few minutes alone, so not sure how reliable it'd be anyway." _**

Eh... figures. Damn you, Murphy's Law! "Geh. Well, alright then. Here's hoping the power comes back online soon... and that yours stays on. Later, Nick."

**_"Later man. Nick, out." _**

I sighed and flipped the 'cell shut. "Well, that's just great. Looks like I'm stuck with a whole lot of boring nothin' to do, and it's getting dark. And now I'm talking to myself... awesome." Just as I finished talking, something... changed; the hairs on the back of my neck shot up, and I knew something was off.

Using my flashlight, I found the only real means of self-defense I owned - a replica Master Sword. That thing cost me more than I probably should've paid, but hey - it's the Master Sword, made of actual metal! Picking up the blade in one hand and flashlight in the other, I headed downstairs. I don't know why... but I felt like something major was about to happen.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Pokémon World xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_'The sunlight here... feels particularly good.' _I thought, laying down at the border of the large clearing. One of our trainer's many favored training spots, this one was right in the middle of a forest. The Pokémon were friendly enough, allowing us to stay as 'guests' so long as none of their own were harmed.

I watched David directing the others through a series of combination moves, and sighed. I remembered back when he first started his adventure, and picked me out of all other options; it surprised everyone. Nobody wanted a soft, useless plant Pokémon like me, right? That's what I always thought. Charmander had agility and power, Squirtle had characteristic defensive strength... I was always just there.

But he'd looked at them, and shook his head at each one. He'd chosen _me_ - and I didn't make him regret it. Throughout our adventure, I always did my best; once, I ignored his orders because they would've spelled defeat for us against a... Gym Leader, he'd called him. After the fight - which my decision did make us win, barely - I had waited for whatever punishment or harsh words were coming. Instead, he smiled faintly and said simply "Good job." Since then, he always let me do what I thought best in battle. It was a sign of trust, of believing in your partners, that I saw in few trainers.

"Thinking back, Veteran?" Jagged's rough, grating voice brought me back to the present - he must've taken a break from training for the moment. I chuckled at his use of my combination title and nickname - a human word, meaning something along the lines of experienced.

"Yes, I suppose I was. Remembering the 'good old days', as humans put it." I replied, nodding. The Aggron laughed, a rumbling sound not unlike rocks rolling around. "What are you laughing about?"

"You saying these days aren't so good, Verden?" he asked, his laugh boiling down to a chuckle. "You wish you could always be back in the action, get some more scratches and scrapes?"

I imitated a shrug, the large planet on my back shaking. "It would be nice once in a while, I suppose... hm?" I looked past Jagged, at... "What is that?" He turned around, confused - and saw exactly what I was talking about. A crack in the ground, just longer perhaps than a Charizard was tall, on the other side of the clearing. The... eerie part was the glow from within the crack, a strange purple light.

Stranger still, everything around it seemed to lean slightly towards it... wait, that was not an illusion! The crack was widening - already Jagged could easily fit inside it with room to spare - and everything it touched was... vanishing. And nobody else had noticed. "Look out!" I shouted, coming out as a loud rumbling growl. Immediately everyone stopped and looked around, noticing the still-widening crack - there must be another word for it... rift? That was when things went... very badly.

The rift started actively drawing things towards it, ripping branches and small, unlucky Pokémon from the trees and floor around it. I wrapped a vine around everyone I could, grabbing our trainer, my teammates, and a few other Pokémon nearby - but apparently, Arceus had... other plans. The rift began drawing in everything, and started 'attacking' - that is the only way I can describe it - with bolts of energy in all directions, each utterly destroying the first thing they hit; living or otherwise.

I did my best to haul everyone away from that thing... I really did. But a bolt hit one of my vines, the one holding Aurora. The vine snapped straight through, and she started hurtling towards the rift. However, quick-thinking as always, David nearly ripped his backpack off of his shoulders and swung it towards the Lucario who quickly grabbed the closest strap - all while keeping his usual silent calmness.

Straining against the rift's pull - Jagged had to help me, ultimately - I managed to pull them all away from the 'danger zone'. We could still see the rift drawing everything closer, but it was not affecting us anymore. David turned to me and cracked a small smile, saying simply "Good job." Then after a moment, he added "Thanks, Verden; Juggernaut." That surprised us all - he normally only spoke during battle, and only to direct us. We always knew what went unsaid, that he was proud of us, but this was different.

I drew back my vines, positively beaming - not only did he verbally thank us, but I got to do something important for the first time in... far too long. We all looked back to where the rift seemed to have stopped, a barren patch of stripped dirt surrounding it up to where we were - farther than my vines could reach. Sadly, it seemed that this thing was not yet done with us.

Almost as if annoyed about losing a fight, the rift launched a final bolt - it arced up, and slammed into the ground near us. The shockwave - and there was one indeed, enough to push me back - threw Aurora, still clutching our trainer's backpack, into the air... and towards the rift. I immediately shot out a vine to catch her, but I wasn't fast enough. She reached the rift before my vine could reach her... and vanished into it.

For several seconds, everything was silent save for the rift's own strange droning sound - how I had never noticed that until now, I do not know. Then, Kairi - who had been quiet the entire time, surprisingly - closed her eyes, and just as quickly opened them; this time, they were wide with fear. _"We need to leave!" _she telepathically shouted, pointing the opposite direction of the rift. I looked where she was indicating - and officially decided that she was right. Another one was breaking open not far from us.

David, though more than shaken as evident from the tears running down his face, silently nodded to the Gardevoir. She glowed with a faint blue outline, and then we were gone - but this time, we were missing one of our team... of our family.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N - I will say right now - I'm not fully happy with this chapter. I feel like I did something... well, I feel like I could've done it better. But it's longer than any chapter of this story thus far, and I'm happy about that. My little segment is over, you have my permission to read now. Mephiles, out.**_

I stood halfway down the stairs, replica blade in one hand and flashlight in the other. I'd stopped there because I heard something a bit worrying - sparks flying. Well, that was the closest thing I could think of - maybe a broken, live power line would sounder closer. Whatever it was, it was coming from outside the house, in the back. Now under normal circumstances, I wouldn't bother looking - it was storming outside, after all. But there was one thing odd about this: there were no power lines behind the house.

So, partially spurred on by my curiosity, and partially from a feeling that I'd regret it if I didn't look, I went down the rest of the stairs. As soon as I reached the bottom, I noticed a weird glow from outside coming through the back window - it gave everything a sort of haunted-looking purple tint. It was actually kind of cool. But the first thing that came to mind was "What the _hell_?"

I said that for a very good reason: while I was distracted by the glow, I heard a very loud _thump_ against the back wall, followed by... a sort of pained whine? Alright, that settled it - I was going out there. I grabbed my jacket - black, with a energy-white tribal Absol design on the front - out of the closet near the washer and dryer, brought the hood up, and headed out the front door into the rain.

Immediately, my hair stood up on end - like when you static-charge a balloon and hold it near your head, only in all directions. Of course, I ignored it and started walking around to the backyard. As I went, my skin started... tingling, Like sparks were flying over it. "What is going on?" I muttered, tightening my grip on the not-Master Sword. I reached the backyard - it felt like it took far longer than the few seconds it actually did - and stood shocked, speechless, and disbelieving at what I saw.

My backyard was torn up like you would not believe; a huge section of grass was flattened and black, and the rest looked like a small tornado ripped through it. The house's back wall was not much better - no holes in the wall, but it looked like somebody had shot a lightning-shotgun at the house. There were scorched spots all over the wall, and the windows were half-melted. But that wasn't what grabbed my attention.

A short, sort of jackal-like creature - maybe four feet tall, at most - was laying against the wall of my house. It was covered in mostly blue and black fur - its chest was cream-colored, instead - and a short spike on both its chest and the back of its hands... or were they paws? Some of its fur was singed, and I could see a dent in the wall behind it - and from the fact that it wasn't moving, it looked completely out cold.

I knew what this was - didn't believe it, but I knew what it was. It was a Pokémon; a Lucario! "Alright... I'm dreaming. Awesome." I said to nobody in particular, sighing. "Well... may as well go with it." I slowly walked over to the Lucario - when you know what they can do, you're going to be cautious. Of course, even in my dreams nothing goes right. I must've stepped on a twig or something, because there was a dull _snap. _Then it woke up. "Ah... shit."

Without opening its eyes, the Lucario jumped to its feet. Any thought that it might _not _want to hurt me was dashed by its very distinctly hostile growling. Then it went into what I always called the 'Kame-Hadouken' pose that so many charge-up attacks seemed to use, with its hands - paws? - behind it and slightly apart. A small glowing blue orb quickly formed in the space between them, slightly distorting the air around it. Steam rose up from where the rain was hitting the orb.

I waved my hands and shook my head franticly, dropping my sword and flashlight in the process. When there's a Pokémon about to hit you with a ball of _energy, _you look as non-threatening as possible if you want to not die. "No, no no! Don't blast me - I wasn't going to hurt you!" I sputtered, panicking _just _a bit. Unfortunately, the Lucario didn't seem to care - it swung its arms forward and threw the basketball-sized orb at me.

In response, of course, I did the first thing that came to mind - I dropped to the ground. The Aura Sphere flew right over my head, singeing my hair as it came a bit too close. "Whoa - that was TOO close!" I said, sweating a bit. Glancing back, I saw what would've happened to _me _if I hadn't dropped; somehow, without any sound, the attack completely incinerated a perfect circle into the wooden fence surrounding my backyard. _'Okay... not dreaming. That's for sure.'_

**_(I forgot to mention the fence? Oh, hush - it wasn't that important anyway! Now, let me continue.)_**

I turned my head to look back at the Lucario - and it was gone. "Oh, are you _SERIOUS!?_" I yelled at the air. "Get the _HELL_ back here!" Then it occurred to me that maybe yelling at the Pokémon that could easily break me in half was a bad idea, even if it did leave. And then something _else _occurred to me. "That was a POKÉMON! That was an actual Lucario. And... it's gone... and in my world..." I stood there for a moment, thinking. Then... "Oh... oh no. This isn't going to end well..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I watched the human from within the branches of a nearby tree. He seemed extremely irritated, then very worried - not that this mattered to me. What mattered was finding out where I was, what had happened to me... and the others, as well. Just as I prepared to leave, however, I noticed him pick up my trainer's backpack that I had brought with me. _'That thieving little...!'_ I toyed with the thought of quickly taking the container back, but for some reason... I decided against it. _'Something is... strange about this one; familiar.' _

Possibly stranger still - considering my... current circumstances - was that I felt... somehow stronger here, wherever _here _was. _'Another region? Or... the Reverse World?' _There was something off about this place, but I couldn't place it. There was a single way to learn where I was - to explore; and judging by that human's reaction to me, not be seen. I looked around, and noticed a denser concentration of buildings to the 'right' of where I was now. _'No better place to begin, I suppose.'_

I tensed up for a moment, then _jumped_. As I thought, I was stronger here - the branch I had been standing on shattered from the force of my jump, and I could see my surroundings flashing by. And yet, I could easily react to the speed; it was as if time had slowed down around me, making everything else - in a strange contradiction - both sluggishly crawl by, and at the same time give the impression that I was going exceptionally fast. It was... actually quite exhilarating.

In no time, I was on top of a large building - the center of the town, perhaps? From the top, standing on a thin stone spike jutting out of the building's side, I watched the activity below. The first thing, glaringly obvious, was the total lack of any Pokémon. Some humans were walking, some were inside those - rather pointless, to me - cars they used to move quickly. But not a single Pokémon was in sight; and yet, that one had recognized what I was... This was far too strange for my liking.

I relaxed, leaning against the wall of the building. _'This is very strange... almost as if it is a completely... different...'_ The only... not possible, but most likely explanation hit me like a charging Tauros. "I am in a completely different world..." I muttered aloud, eyes wide. I looked down at my forepaws, at the spikes on the back of both. _'And I attacked... oh. That was... not the best first impression I could have made...'_

I could almost hear David berating me for being so... hasty, he would call it. And he would be right; the human had outright said he meant me no harm. He had even seemed... excited, if also scared. _'I wonder... how did he know what I am? Do Pokémon actually exist here?' _I suddenly felt... rather bad for attacking him... even if I _did _miss. _'… oh, fine... I suppose I have little choice. Besides... perhaps he can help explain... something.'_

With a sigh, I looked back in the direction I'd come from - and noticed that it was still raining, and my fur was soaked. _'… Maybe I can dry off, as well.'_ I thought bitterly. Decided, I jumped off of the building, and made my way back to the human's house.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Whoa..." I looked at the pile of... stuff that I'd taken out of the backpack. It was left behind when that Lucario vanished, so I guess it wasn't too important. But this was incredible - Pokéballs, spray bottles that I guessed were Potions from the games... even some candy. Then there was the normal traveling stuff; flashlight, bottled water and the like. I also noticed that there was a lot more than the 'pack should've been able to hold. "Wait... is that a bike?"

I spent the next several minutes sifting through the pile, trying things out. The Pokéballs were interesting - the inside was weird, covered in small projectors. "I wonder what it's like in one of these..." I muttered, turning one over in my hand. "If it weren't for this - and my fence being broken - I'd swear this was just a really vivid dream... but this is real." Then the lights flickered back on, although they were a bit dim. "Power's back!"

Immediately, I grabbed the TV remote and switched it on - I had to see if there was anything on the news about all this. Turns out, there was; the usual anchorman was just sitting down behind his desk when I tuned into the news channel. **"Hank Wimble here at News 32, bringing you breaking news when ****_you _****need it. Across the nation, power had failed due to a massive storm from across the Atlantic Ocean. However, something has also been sporadically disrupting computerized devices across the board; the cause has not yet been determined."**

I would've continued watching, but at that moment somebody decided to knock on the door... hard. I cringed when I heard the creaking and splintering of the reinforced wood. "Jesus, hold _on_!" I shouted, storming over to the door. There was a large dent - to put it mildly - that I could see from this side. "Are you serious...?" I hesitantly pulled open the door, and was... surprised at what I saw; for the second time today.

The Lucario from before was back... and absolutely soaked. For a moment I was scared out my skin - after all, the thing had tried to blast me! But then I noticed its eyes - very intense-looking, red eyes - and expression in general looked... almost apologetic. I simply stood there in the doorway for a few moments, trying to process everything. Then... "Ah, hell with it. Get inside, will ya?" Apparently, my mind decided not to check in with me before talking. Maybe it was on to something.

The Pokémon seemed just as surprised as me before cautiously walking past me into the house. I closed the door, wincing again at the sight of that 'dent' - my parents were gonna kill me. "Alright - you're the same Lucario who tried to Aura-blast me?" The only response was a faint whine, and the Lucario glanced down at the floor. "You gonna do it again?" A quick shake of the head; a negative. "Then we're cool. You owe me a door and a fence, though."

I almost laughed out loud at the Lucario's expression of surprise this time. "What? Didn't think it'd be that easy? I'm cool peoples, as some say - besides, you were startled. Not the best move on my part." Well, it obviously understood me; that's a plus. "Now, you have any idea where you are?" Another shake of the head; like I expected, really. "Oh boy... this is gonna be a bit of a shock. You're not in Sinnoh anymore, I can tell you that." That earned me a half-way 'no shit, Sherlock' look. On a Lucario, it's funny - trust me.

"You're actually not even in your own world; we don't have real Pokémon here. Well... we didn't." I sighed, and gestured for the Lucario to follow me into the living room. "A shame, if ya ask me. Not sure how you got here, though. Anyway, here Pokémon is just a video game." I noticed the very confused look on the Lucario's face, and sighed again. "I'd show you, but my game got fried. Freak storm... geh."

Then I remembered that the Lucario was soaked, and dripping water all over the floor. "Hold on for a second. Let me get you a towel so you can dry off." I left the living room and came back a few seconds later with said towel. Tossing it to the Lucario, I asked, "Ya know how to use it, right?" A quick nod answered my question, and in about a minute it'd dried itself off... and had its fur sticking up all over the place. Ever seen a cat dried off after a bath? That's what it looked like.

This time, I _did _laugh out loud. It occurred to me I was taking this... really well. It probably helped that I wasn't thinking too much about the situation. The Lucario glared at me before turning away in a huff. "H-heh... hey, sorry. It's just... oh, boy you should see yourself." After a moment I managed to stop laughing, and it'd started smoothing down its fur. "Alright, alright... sorry for laughing. Hey, you got a name? Can't really just call you Lucario all the time, can I?"

The Lucario nodded, and held a paw out with the 'palm' facing up. A small blue aura covered its paw, and just as quickly faded. I thought for a moment. "… Aura?" It shook its head and gestured at the window, towards the night sky - wow, it was later than I thought... I kept guessing at names, and consistently failed horribly - it seemed to start getting annoyed when I finally thought of something, however ridiculous. "… this is my last guess; is your name... Aurora?"

It nodded quickly, apparently glad that I'd finally figured it out. "… alright, then." That was a hell of a coincidence. "I've got one other question for you, then, if ya don't mind." Aurora made a 'go on' gesture with a paw, nodding. "Are you a... well, a female?" In response, I got a 'you're joking, right' sort of look, and a slow nod - like it was bloody obvious, which it _wasn't_. Have you ever seen a Lucario? They don't look particularly... well, the look like they could be either one.

"Well then - this is quite the coincidence." I said in a horribly forced official-like tone. "You see, I had mentioned that Pokémon was but a game he-" I was interrupted by a 'light' smack on the arm by a not-amused Aurora - light here meaning enough to dent my DS. It hurt. "OW! Alright, jeez..." I muttered, rubbing my arm where she hit it - that was gonna bruise, alright... I opened my mouth to continue when the news - yeah, that was still going - said something that caught my attention.

**"This just in; isolated reports of strange phenomenon, described only as 'purple rifts', are coming in across the nation. One such report mentions a strange creature exiting the rift; it was described as a 'giant green, scythe-armed mantis', and was spotted leaving the Stadium Field area, right here at home." **Hank glanced off-camera for a moment and nodded slightly before continuing. **"Should you encounter this creature, avoid being seen and report it immediately to the authorities. We will continue bringing in updates on the situation as they occur. This has been News 32, and I'm Hank Wimble."**

I looked over at Aurora, and she was looking up at me. I really only had one word for the situation, but it was enough. "… well, shit." Alright, make that two words. The Lucario - _my _Lucario? Maybe... - silently nodded, agreeing with me. This was a far from ideal situation... and I felt like it was going to get a lot worse before it got better.


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: Been a bit since the last chapter - but I swear these ones keep getting longer. Would have uploaded it earlier, but I just couldn't get it to where I was at least content with the content. (*derp*) Side note - time in the Pokemon world and Real World are not always the same. That will be all._**

It had been... a week, in human terms, I suppose... since we lost Aurora. And David was taking it... well, rather badly. He'd always been quiet, but this was something different; something about him was missing. I could understand that - we were like a small clan, family... whatever you want to call it. If you attacked one of us, harmed one of us, then we all came crashing down on you. And none of us had been able to save her.

The others were hit hard by it as well, having been partners with the Lucario and our trainer longer than I had - I'd been the most recent addition to the team, caught less than a season before all of this. And even with that, I felt like I had failed both Aurora and David; we all did, I could tell.

Kairi, being naturally more in-tune with emotions, was hit the hardest of the other two. She'd been unnaturally quiet since we escaped from the rifts... it must be incredibly difficult, with the Gardevoir's ability to sense emotion. Then again, perhaps she was better suited to dealing with that. But that, while a... the word would be tragedy... was not what I was currently worried about. We were standing just outside the human city... Oreburgh, it was... and the sight far ahead of us was shocking.

Mount Coronet, always a imposing sight from anywhere in the region, was... it could only be described as falling apart. Several of those damned rifts were scattered across its slopes, leaving gaping purple voids in the rock. And they were _moving_. I could see trails of that same 'void' behind the rifts as they seemed to effortlessly carve through the mountain. Flashes of yellow light arced from the air around the rifts into them - likely the electric Pokémon that frequented the mountain, trying to defend it.

Kairi 'spoke' for what seemed like the first time since the incident. _"Oh no... how did..." _Her 'voice' trailed off, not finishing the question we all were asking - how did this happen? The problem was, nobody knew; a few of these... things had been seen across the region, but they had all apparently just vanished not long after being seen, leaving only that void behind. This was... this was horrible.

Then something came out of one of the rifts. What looked like... a chunk of carved stone? No... more like a broken building. Whatever it was, the rift left it behind as it moved, leaving it to fill in the section of the mountain it had just 'eaten'. Then another rift did the same, with what looked like another part of the same object. "Jagged." I glanced over - and down - at David with a questioning look. "This is bad."

_That _worried me. Our trainer was... how do the humans say... 'a man of very few words'. He spoke little, and said much - and when he said something was bad, that meant far more than the words themselves. 'Bad' for him was 'terrifying' for anybody else. And he had used my true name, not the nickname others had given me - he was scared. Ultimately, I simply nodded - yes... this is bad.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Real World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This is bad... come _on_!" I was trying to push Aurora into my room. "They're almost home, just get _in there_!" Of course, as soon as I'd come to terms with the fact that there was a Lucario in my house, my parents called to say they were finally on their way. And said Lucario was being very stubborn. "D'you _want _to get me in trouble? Do you know how my parents would flip if they saw you?"

Aurora was simply standing in my doorway, not budging an inch, with her back to me. "Seriously - do you expect me to just show you to them, say 'Hey mom, hey dad - I found a Lucario in the back yard; can she stay?'" Not even looking back at me, she nodded - she expected me to do just that. I stopped trying to push her, dumbfounded for a moment. "Are you _serious_!?" Another nod, this time with a... sort of disapproving look.

I thought about it for a minute._ '… well, they are generally pretty cool... guess it's worth a shot.'_ After a few seconds, I nodded. "Alright, fine. We'll do this your way; how bad could it be? Worst case... ah, it'll work." Just in time too - I heard the easily recognizable sputtering of mom's car. That thing was as old as I am, and probably hasn't had maintenance since... well, since she bought it. Don't ask me how it still runs, I've been trying to find that out for years.

"Alright, that's them - You stay here on the stairs, and I'll call you down when I'm ready. And please... _don't _attack them." She nodded, looking just a bit apologetic when I mentioned attacking. With a quick thumbs up, I rushed downstairs just as my mother opened the door. She was a little shorter than me, and looked... well, solid. It was no deceptive appearance - she could knock the quarterback of my old high school flat on his ass, if she wanted to.

"Hey Dave - how'd you weather the weather?" And then there was her... sense of humor.

I groaned at her... well, admittedly somewhat funny pun. "Oh, just fine, mom. DS got fried, power went out, and I had a Hot Pocket." I said casually, shrugging. "The backyard got burnt, too. All in all, it went pretty good. I even found a new friend!"

She sighed, shaking her head. "We leave the house for... what, a few hours? And _then _everything short of burning the house down happens. You realize we're not getting you a new one for a while, right?" Her look when I simply laughed was... well, I laughed even harder.

"Heh - I don't think I'll need a new DS, mom." I replied, leaning against the wall and rapping against it with my knuckles. "You know that new friend I was talking about?" She nodded slowly, unsure where I was going with this. "I'm gonna call her down, but first - promise you won't flip out."

She gave me a_ 'O...kay...'_ look. "Alright... but wait - her?"

I ignored the 'question', and looked back at the stairway. _'Here goes nothin'…' _"Aurora! Come on down." Glancing back at her, I added "You might be... a _bit _surprised on this one." Again, another one of those looks. I didn't even hear Aurora come downstairs - which was weird, because they always creaked. But one minute, the bottom of the stairs was empty, and the next there was a 4 foot tall Lucario standing there, looking at my mother.

My mom actually surprised me by... well, _not _flipping out. "I'm going to ask one thing..." Well, this was going well- "… because you _know _your father is going to 'flip out' for me." And there's the catch... of course. "What, and who, is that?"

I sighed. "I'll wait for dad to stop his inevitable rant before I explain." Immediately, I heard something drop onto the concrete outside the door. "And speaking of which... Aurora, don't hurt him." The Lucario just looked at me for a moment, confused - then my dad started yelling.

See, he's just as tall as I am. A bit... well, not thin but... I don't know how you'd describe him, really. Same dark hair, wears glasses... and does _not _like surprises. Impossibilities are also on his list - and Aurora happened to be both. He also has this _talent _for... explaining his dislike for things; at great length, and very loudly.

"Dad." I said, over his... actually unintelligible rant... was that something about aliens? Of course, I went unheard. "Dad?" Again, I was completely ignored. I glanced at my mom for permission to do what I was about to do - the only way to stop his rants before he was done. She sighed and nodded. _'Here we go...' _I walked right up to him, and slammed my fist into the wall, yelling, _"DAD, SHUT UP!"_ He stopped, looking at me with the... alright, expected shocked look.

I very deliberately and unnecessarily smoothed down my shirt, and took a few steps back. Adopting my 'forced-formal' voice, I said, "Ahem. Thanks ever so much for letting me speak. I would like to introduce you both to my newest friend... Aurora." I stepped aside, with a sweeping gesture towards the Lucario. "And Aurora, these are my parents."

For several seconds, nobody said anything. Then my dad took a step forward - to his credit, not looking particularly scared or angry - and asked, "David... what is _that?_"

"First off, _her_ name is Aurora." I replied, slightly annoyed with him - I understood, but that wasn't the point. "Second, she's a Lucario - you know, from the Pokémon series. You've seen them before; I watch the show and movies enough." They both nodded slowly, while Aurora just seemed confused - and a bit surprised. Satisfied, I clapped my hands and smiled. "Great, so that's cleared up - can she stay?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Pokémon World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The fear everyone was feeling was... overwhelming. Not for the first time, I cursed my kind's natural empathy; feeling the emotions of everyone around you was not always a good thing. In a time like this, where it seemed like the region itself was being torn apart... it took all I could do just to keep going. Briefly linking minds with our trainer, I asked _"Where are we going?" _We had been walking for the past... hour, two? And we had no idea where we were headed.

"Professor Rowan." he replied, not looking back or breaking stride. "Find out what this is." That explained everything - we knew about Rowan. If any human in the region knew what was going on, it would be him. But something else bothered me. _"Why not have me teleport us there?"_

He faltered for just a moment, glancing back. "Not yet. Something big is going to happen first." He looked past me, back at Mt. Coronet, then added, "Or already has..." As he finished the statement, the ground started shaking; faintly so, but it was steadily getting stronger. "I had to open my mouth..." he muttered - it occurred to me that he was actually talking _more _since this whole event had started.

Breaking into a run, he gestured for us to hurry along with him. I looked back where he had been looking... and started running as best I could as well. The top of Mt. Coronet - Spear Pillar - had been reached by one of the rifts. Even from here, I could see it being torn down into whatever void they left behind - but that was not the biggest problem.

Spear Pillar was the only physical connection to Arceus' realm, the Hall of Origin - or so legend said. Nobody knew what would happen, if that link were to be broken - some believed that the world as we knew it would fall apart, others said that it would herald the arrival of Arceus himself. Whatever its ruin would bring... we were going to find out, and soon.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Real World xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What d'you mean, _no_!?" I could not believe this. My father was being uncooperative, as I should've guessed. To be fair, Aurora _was _a fictional creature_._ "Bloody hell - not like she's got anywhere else to go! This isn't even her world- oh, don't give me that look. I know it's crazy, but there is a _LUCARIO _in our house. I think crazy isn't even applicable anymore."

Of course, I was ignored. "That thing - Lucario, Aurora, whatever - is _not _staying in my house, David. This is not negotiable - after all, from the looks of it, it can take care of itself. It doesn't need-" I was done. So completely and utterly done with this.

"_SHE._ Aurora is a _she_, got it? She's not a damn animal. Yes - she could probably handle herself fine. Yeah, this is insane - but if you had no clue where you were, you'd want somebody to at least try and help out." My parents both looked at me - my dad with a combination of confusion and surprise, and my mom with something looking a bit like pride. "She's got no food, no roof, and no bed. We've got all three. She'll stay in my room, away from you, if she's got to - but if you're booting her out, I'm leaving too."

My dad was quiet for a moment - a bloody miracle. Then my mom decided to speak up. "What's got you so dead-set on this?" she asked, with a tone suggesting this was a sort of test. "You talk like you've known... Aurora, was it? For a while."

I didn't really have to think about my answer. "Because I have. Yeah, it's been through a DS screen - but now I get to actually hang out with one of my Pokémon, for real. And really - what's gonna happen if she gets caught out there? I'll tell you; she'll be brought into a lab, experimented on, maybe killed." Throwing a glance at the Lucario, I added, "Or, she'll defend herself - and we'll have cops, military men, whatever getting Aura Spheres to the face. Either way, not good."

I sighed after I was done, looking between my parents. "Really, it's up to you guys now. But I'll say one more thing - I've got a bad feeling about all of this. Something big is about to go down - bigger than us, for sure. And I think whatever it is, we'll need help to get through it."

They both glanced at each other for a few moments - I'd won, and they both knew it. I've got this knack for persuasion, I swear... or maybe it's just logic? Either way, what they said - both at the same time, even - somewhat surprised me. "She stays. You're feeding her, responsible for her-" I fist-pumped mentally at that, even as expected as it was. "- and any... others that you find." That part made my jaw drop.

"W-wait a second. Let me get this straight..." I stuttered for a moment, trying to organize my thoughts. "You're saying... any Pokémon I find, we'll keep?"

Mom shook her head, smiling slightly. "Not we - _you_. This is... well, your 'area of expertise', this whole Pokémon thing."

I opened my mouth, then closed it. Then I tried again. The third time, I managed to say something. "WOO-HOO!" I jumped in the air, literally fist-pumping this time. "You guys. Are AWESOME." I turned to Aurora, absolutely beaming. "Heh - ya hear that? You get to stay!" She smiled too - though, I could've sworn that just for a second, she looked worried about something. That something then hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Ah, right... Aurora, head back upstairs for a minute? Gotta chat with my parents real quick." The Lucario gave me a look - the sort of _'That's kind of unnecessary, but alright...' _look. What - I can get a lot out of how someone looks at me, alright? She was up the stairs as quickly and silently as she'd come down them. I turned back to my parents, all seriousness now. "There's... some heavy stuff I've got to talk about."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I did just as I was asked - I waited at the top of the stairs for... David? That must be his name; a strange coincidence. With nothing else to do for the moment, I started thinking. This human - _this _David - was strikingly similar to my trainer. More animated, perhaps - but there was little beyond age or experience separating them. My thoughts started wandering; what was my trainer doing now? What was happening in my... world?

I was honestly grateful when I heard David start talking - I did not want to think about those things right now. I closed my eyes, and focused on simply listening - and was somewhat surprised at what I heard.

_"Guys, I wasn't kidding when I said I felt like something was gonna go wrong. Have you seen the news?" _His parents must have indicated otherwise, because he continued. _"Well, I think we're going to have a whole lotta hell raised soon. Look..." _I saw him walk past the stairway, but he stopped when he saw me. He muttered something under his breath before saying, "Come on, Aurora. Might be something we all need to see, anyway."

Did he want me upstairs or downstairs? Could he even make up his mind? Either way, I nodded and was next to him in a moment. He blinked once, then laughed. "I forgot just how fast you were..." His laugh fading away, David walked over to the television and switched it back on. On the screen was the ruins of an ornate building - surely somewhere important. The news 'reporter' was talking already.

**-remains of City Hall, a pack of what can only be described as 'hellhounds' are viciously attacking anybody who comes near. Those remaining at a safe distance, however, are receiving only warning growls. **The view closed in on the building, showing a group of large dog-like Pokémon - Houndoom, I knew them to be. The black fur and curved, bone-like horns made them hard to mistake for anything else. Then something behind them caught my eye - a familiar purple, pulsing glow.

"Aurora, cool it." I started when I felt a hand on my shoulder - then I realized I was snarling at the screen. I glanced back, seeing David looking straight at the television, not moving his hand. "You and I, we're gonna have to get training."

His parents took their attention from the screen when he said that, and both asked at once, "What do you mean, _training_?"


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: This chapter's a bit short, all things considered - but a few things get introduced here. And since I haven't mentioned this yet, I thought I should clarify this: This story's probably gonna progress a bit slowly, unless something happens otherwise. That's because this part is more focusing on what happens leading up to all hell breaking loose. I will say no more.**_

_**... why are you still reading the author's notes? Read the chapter, it's why you're here.**_

It's been a few days since Aurora... came through, I guess. In that time, I've figured out that Pokémon... are_ not_ exactly like the games. For example, that whole '4 moves' thing? That was a busted myth. Aurora's passed that mark by far - besides Aura Sphere, I've recognized what I think is ExtremeSpeed, Force Palm, Double Team... even a weird version of Bone Rush. And that's just ones I've recognized; she's shown a few that I've never even seen in the games.

That's another thing - there are variations on moves, depending on who uses it. To use Aurora's Bone Rush as an example: She makes a blue bone-shaped staff out of Aura. Then she beats the crap out of you with it. I saw what that does to a tree - a very old, very thick tree; it's now separating my house's fence.

What were we doing now? Training; specifically, I was trying to get Aurora to do something with a move other than instantly obliterate things. So, to that end, I'd grabbed my not-Master Sword and challenged her to a little sparring match. That was one of the dumbest ideas I'd ever had.

"Whoa!" I barely brought up the blade in time to block the aura-staff, narrowly avoiding getting smashed in the face. Instead I just got thrown to the dirt. "This isn't a strength match, Aurora! I know you've got me beat there." When she pulled the staff back to rest against the ground, I stood up and dusted my jeans off. "Try focusing less on how _hard_ you hit, and more on_ how_ you hit." She gave me nothing in response but a blank look. I sighed. "Knock the sword out of my hands, without breaking it. Or me."

That time she nodded, getting back into a ready stance. I did the same, gripping the sword with both hands. "Alright then - take it from the top. Fight!" Of course, I didn't stand a chance - a trained Lucario versus a generic human? 5-on-1 and it still wouldn't be fair - and that's if the Lucario was just practicing. The blade was buried point-first in the dirt ten feet away before I could say "Wow."

I rubbed my wrist, stinging from the sword being ripped out of my hands. "Well... I think you passed that one..." I muttered redundantly. Meanwhile, Aurora was standing maybe two feet away, looking up at me with that staff leaning against her shoulder. She looked somewhat pleased with herself - and hell, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the same. How many people can say they've trained with a Lucario?

"Alright, nice going." I walked over to the blade and tugged it out of the ground. "Let's do it again - this time, I'm gonna actually come at you. You ready?" I saw her nod, but for just a second I had an odd feeling - like something was changing again, like when Aurora arrived. But I shook it off; it could wait. "Let's go!"

************************************Pokémon World************************************

_'Run, run, run...'_ I had to get away - had to keep running. Darting through low roots, bushes - anything to get away. I didn't look back; _couldn't _look back... I needed to keep moving. Something cracked behind me. _'I'm ahead of it, I'm getting away...' _If I thought anything else... I won't think anything else.

_"Stop running, little one..." _Its voice alone almost made me sick - a disgusting, distorted sound that filled my head. _"We just want to help you..." _I almost wanted to stop; maybe it _wasn't _trying to trick me. Then I remembered what they did... my parents, torn apart and thrown away. Clumps of black or red or lavender fur scattered across the grass.

And now I was next - but they wouldn't get me! _'Almost there... almost away!' _I was almost out of danger; I knew it, they couldn't follow me much further! The edge of the forest was just ahead - I just needed to run a bit farther...

Finally, I burst out of the bushes - I made it! Looking behind me, there was nothing; nothing followed me through. "Oh, thank Arceus..." I sighed, relaxing ever so slightly. For just a few moments, I looked around: I'd made it to a large clearing, not entirely out of the forest. Not far away from me, a lake dominated the middle of it; in fact, it was the only thing here besides the grass. Dead-center in the lake was a small island. I felt like I should know this place...

Looking at the lake, I realized just how _thirsty_ I was; after running away for... how long had it been? Hours? After this long I could barely keep myself standing, but I made my way to the edge of the lake. The water was still, like it was frozen in place, and reflected the moonlit sky well enough that it looked like I could just... fall into it. But when I saw my own reflection, I froze.

That wasn't me looking up from the lake, it couldn't be; my fur was white and brown, and if you looked at it right, shot through with streaks of black or lavender. But this... _thing's _coatwas stained red. There were splatters of it everywhere, but its paws and around its mouth - the fur there was dripping. Dripping red into the lake, sending ripples out through the water. I shook my head violently. _'No, no - I didn't hurt anybody... I _couldn't _hurt anybody!'_

I collapsed on the grass, whimpering to myself. "I didn't..." Everything else didn't matter - I didn't understand anything anymore. _'Did I... no, it _HAD _to be them... they're trying to trick me again!' _Faintly, like it was far away, I heard a sort of humming sound; but I didn't care. _'They have to be lying... they did it, I saw them!' _Even with my vision blurry from tears I didn't even notice, I could see something that got my attention.

Maybe a few feet into the lake, there was a weird, purple light shining through the water. I blinked a few times to clear my eyes, and crawled closer to the lake's edge to get a closer look. _"Go on." _I yelped in fear and surprise - but that voice sounded different. More like... more like mother's voice. Calmer, soothing even now... and I wanted to listen. _"You'll be safe, just go on."_

I wanted to be safe... wanted to be away from here. So I pulled myself into the water. And I just kept pulling myself along the ground, towards that light. When I felt something pulling me towards it, I stopped moving; I closed my eyes, and let myself drift. _'So tired... just going to... sleep.'_

************************************_Real World_************************************

_'This is pointless.' _The truck shook hard again; this was not the best of roads. You'd think that they would keep it maintained, since it was the only way to find this middle-of-nowhere town, but no. With a glance over at my assistant, I voiced my thoughts. "This is pointless, you know that. Really, Justin, what do they expect us to find?"

He sighed - to be fair, I'd been saying the same thing over and over for the past hour and a half. "Honestly Keith, I don't know. Probably some drugged-up idiots spreading rumors. But we get paid for looking into it, no matter what the result - so just shut up about it." Justin was a good assistant - quickly annoyed, but a good one.

I glanced back at the road, then at the driver - some raffle-chosen grunt, from what I could tell. "How far to the town?"

Without looking back, he replied in a flat tone, "Not soon enough. Now shut up so I can- SHIT!" He wrenched the steering wheel around, bringing the truck into a sharper turn than it was ever meant to make. For a second, things slowed down; I felt the vehicle skid and start to tilt, but - and don't ask me how, I still don't know - just as it seemed like the entire thing was going to start rolling over, it just... stopped. The truck simply stopped tilting, and fell back _hard_ on its wheels.

We took a few seconds to make sure nothing was broken - on us or the equipment. The driver popped open the truck's hood, and immediately stepped back. A cloud of thick smoke poured out of the engine - I probably don't need to say it, but the thing was dead. After taking stock of everything, I whirled on the guy. "The _hell _was that!?"

He just pointed at the road, in front of the now-functionless truck. The cracked surface was wet, I could tell from here - the puddles of water probably helped with that. But that wasn't what made my jaw drop; lying limp in the middle of the water-covered road was a small, brown and white furred... creature. Or, to say it better, it was probably brown and white once - I could see patches of that, but right now it was... well, covered in blood, from the looks of it.

Justin glanced at me, then at the creature. Then back at me. "Keith?" I just looked over at him silently, waiting for him to continue. After a moment, he did. "Was it raining earlier?" I shook my head - he knew damn well it hadn't been. "You ever hear of a thing like that?" I almost shook my head again - then I remembered something from a video game I'd played... oh, years ago. I nodded. "Yeah... me too. I don't think those were just rumors."

I looked back to the thing, still unmoving on the road. After a few seconds, I only had one thing to say. "Get it in the truck - and call it in. Call it a new species, whatever you need to; we've got something here." I smoothed out my jacket and sighed. "Question is... what _have _we got?"


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Yeah, another chapter. Including three different PoV's this time around, one of which I should've done far earlier. ... Why are you still here? Read on.**_

***********************************Hall of Origin***********************************

I pulled myself away from the timestream; nothing had changed. No matter what path this occurrence took, it led to nothing but ruin for our world. Arceus Himself charged me with looking for any way to disrupt this event... I had even agreed, reluctantly, to work alongside my _sister _in order to accomplish this. And neither she nor myself were making any progress. In all likelihood - which I say with complete certainty - there was in fact nothing that could be done.

"Lord Dialga, your counterpart requests an audience." I had known that Darkrai would arrive soon - though why she had chosen _him _as our... messenger, I will never know.

"I have made it clear that should she have anything of importance to say, she may enter... for the time being." I was getting tired of repeating myself - and knew I would do so many times again. But memory was more my area... my sister dealt more with action. When I saw that Darkrai was still floating nearby, I sighed. "Request granted. Palkia may enter."

As I said the words, a tear appeared in the 'air' of my... you would call it a dimension, but that is not precisely correct. More accurately, it was a visual form of Time itself - a multicolored ribbon winding endlessly through a constantly-changing room. With a flash, the tear vanished, to be replaced by the rather bulky, hunched form of my Spatial counterpart. "What do you want, Palkia?"

My sister was... unusually animated on this visit. I could almost believe I saw a glint of hope. For the first time in recent memory, she told me something that was actually important. "I may have found something. Something we can use." I didn't ask her to clarify - she would do that for me. "I've been looking in only _our _world all this time. It had never occurred to me to look for another world entirely separate from our own."

Then again, perhaps she wouldn't clarify. "Palkia. Get to the point." I was not irritated - I had long since gotten used to her... rambling - but for the first time, I had a limited _amount _of time to work on something. "What did you find?"

Perhaps I should have known what she would say; perhaps my assumption that we would fail colored my judgment of what to look for. Whatever the cause of my oversight, the response that she gave me was surprising. "A lifeline, brother... in a Human."

It took me a long moment to register what she had said. A _human_? Save for the one chosen by Arceus so long ago, no human had ever been of any true importance, nor should be for eons to come. "How do you know this? You alone could not determine such a thing."

Instead of responding, she gestured at the my link to the timestream with one arm. "Look for yourself. Look for something where - or when, perhaps - it doesn't belong." She was being... strangely intelligent. Perhaps it was because of how severe the situation truly was.

Without a word, I 'stepped' back into the stream; again I saw all possible outcomes, all ending in a variety of ruined worlds. But I did as suggested - searched for something that was out of place, or out of _time_. It took... the duration I searched was meaningless; even I could not track it. It did not matter - I found it. A single, thin trail that stood out from the others. It was unfinished, still winding away from the present... but it shone silver among the tangle of black failures - it was a possibility.

When I retreated from the stream, Palkia stood silently, waiting for me to speak. There were many things I _should _do now - alert Arceus, ensure that this possibility became **the **reality... but I had to be sure. "I will watch this. Inform Lord Arceus that we may have a solution... but I promise nothing."

***********************************Pokémon World***********************************

It's been weird, not having Aurora around; everything seems washed out. I've never failed my team before - and they've never failed me. Kairi keeps telling me that none of the others blame me for it; that I tried my best, and that was enough... but my best _wasn't _enough. And now, on top of that, the region was coming apart at the seams.

Since Mount Coronet got hit by those... rifts, everything has fallen apart. The weather is unpredictable; one minute it's the biggest storm on record, the next the skies are clear. There are rumors of Pokémon just... leaving their trainers, vanishing into the wild. And, more worrying, there's talk that the Golems - Regirock, Registeel, and Regice - are active again... and that raised a lot of questions. More directly affecting us, the... damage to Mount Coronet made the quick route to Sandgem impassable.

_"David... we need to go. Now." _I looked up from my seat in the Solaceon Pokémon Center - my team had needed a rest, and we were passing by anyway. Apparently they were done and ready to go, judging by the fact that Kairi was floating their Pokéballs into my hands. I gave her a questioning look, but clipped the containers to my belt and stood up.

I almost asked what the problem was; but through the window, almost out of sight on top of the Solaceon Ruins, there was a white furred Pokémon standing still, looking right at the Center. It was an Absol - and they were known to arrive just before a catastrophe. I took only a second to put it together before striding up to the desk. I tapped on it, hard, to get the nurse's attention. Pointing at the window, I said, "Look out there."

Looking almost like she was just humoring me, she walked over to the window and looked out. When she didn't see what I was talking about, I pointed directly at it. I saw her expression start to change, and said, "Get everyone out." Without another word, or waiting for a response, I motioned for Kairi to follow me and walked through the sliding doors.

As I was walking down the road, I heard the doors slide open again. I could hear the nurse knocking on the door of one of the few houses in the small town... but I could also hear a familiar crackling sound. Turning around, I saw where it was coming from - another one of those rifts was appearing, this time inside the Ruins. When I looked, the Absol was nowhere to be seen... hopefully it made it out.

I waited near the edge of the small town, to make sure everybody was going to make it. It took only a few minutes to get the people out of their houses and ready to go - but it also only took that long for the Ruins to be almost completely swallowed up by the still-growing rift. The nurse was talking to the small group of people, explaining where they were going to go, as far as I could tell. She noticed me still waiting, and gave me a brief nod - she was grateful; I didn't need to hear it to know.

I turned back to the road, making my way away from Solaceon, Kairi walking alongside me. _"Do you think that... whatever this is, will stop?"_

I didn't look at her - she already knew what I would say. But after a moment, I said it anyway; what everybody was thinking about it. "I don't know." Whether it could be stopped, or not... I would do what I could to make sure we had a chance.

***********************************Real World***********************************

_"Wake up..." _I heard... something, over the wind. But I _was _awake - I was playing with my mother right now, just outside of the forest. _"Wake up, little one. You are not safe."_ That voice was like mother's - but that didn't make sense... I was playing with her now, and she wasn't talking. _'Mother... wait... no no no NO!' _Right in front of me, she started... falling to pieces, like she was being cut up... I felt something splash against me-

**_"WAKE UP."_**

I jolted awake, panting like I'd been running for too long. It was dark, and I was wet, and everything was rumbling around me. _'Where am I?' _Then I realized I felt... weird. Like I was lighter than normal, and everything was moving slower. I tried standing up - I had to lean on... something, it was flat and cold and hard. Blinking a few times, the darkness seemed to fade out - everything was washed out, but I could see!

It looked like I was in... a big box. The sides were all the same cold, hard... stuff, and it felt like the ground was too. There were lots of smaller boxes; some of them were on their side, but they were all closed. _'Where does this one open?'_ I started shakily walking around the sides of my big box, looking for... something. Then one side opened, and I had to shut my eyes - it got really bright, and it hurt to look at.

"Hey, it's awake!" Someone was talking - I didn't know the voice.

"That thing's still alive? It looked done for." That was a different one. Were they talking about me?

"Maybe it was - but it looks pretty young... or maybe whatever it is just stay that small." What? Don't they know an Eevee when they see one? I did what I could to stand still for a moment, and tried to speak.

"Where..." I had to stop - my throat hurt too much. Why did my throat hurt?

"Did you hear that? It said something!" Did they understand what I said? Maybe they could help me!

"Yeah, Keith - 'Eve'. Probably just making something out of what's just an animal sound." Animal? I didn't know what that meant... but they couldn't understand me. I slumped to the ground, almost missing what they said next.

"You know what I think it is?"

"No, don't even. It's not a damn Eevee! They aren't _real_."

Not real? But I was right here, of course I was real! I jumped back to my paws, standing and looking at them - my eyes could handle the light now, sort of. They were tall - very tall, almost as tall as the box. It almost made me a little scared, but I didn't show it. They only stood on two, weirdly long legs, and had equally long arms - and no paws, or even fur, except on their heads.

The one on the left - a little taller than the other - looked down at me. When it talked, I could tell it was the first voice. "Hey, calm down - we're not going to hurt you, alright?" I liked this one; he seemed nice.

"Are you serious, man? It's a... I don't know what it is, but it can't _understand _you!" The second, shorter one, though... I didn't like him.

**_"He'll hurt you." _**

I don't know why, but I was angry - that shorter one, he wanted me gone. The taller one was nice, he wanted to talk; he wouldn't hurt me. But the other one would - I _knew_ that he would. The tall one - was he 'Keith'? I think he was... - he backed away, looking not-quite-scared; I barely noticed, I was glaring at the short one, the one who didn't like me.

"Justin, I think you're ticking it off. Quite being a skeptic for just a minute, alright?" Keith knew - he understood. I didn't know what a skeptic was, but whatever it was I didn't like it.

The shorter one, who he called Justin - what weird names... - sighed, I think. "Yeah, fine; go ahead and talk to the... whatever it is."

Keith - the nice one - moved towards me, carefully; I wanted to back up, but I didn't think he'd hurt me. He got down on a knee, closer to my level. "_Can _you understand me?" I nodded quickly - did he really think I was _that _dumb? No, he was just making sure. He kept asking me questions; simple ones, that I could answer with just a 'yes' or 'no'. I did what I could, even though I didn't understand all the words.

After a while, he stopped asking questions. He flipped his little writing pad shut, and left. Just as I heard him start talking to the other one, I started feeling... really tired. _'But I just woke up... I don't want to sleep.' _Before I realized it, I was curled up in the back of the big cold box.

**_"Just sleep." _**_"You can wake when it's time."_

That time, I knew what those voices were - they were like my parents. They sounded a little... strange, but I decided that's what they would be. And they always knew best... I could stand to get a little more rest.

***********************************?************** *********************

"Sir, everything is proceeding as planned." The nervous tone told me all I needed to know - this was a new recruit, and he knew his place; far below me, like all the others.

I didn't bother looking up - a lowly grunt didn't deserve it. I _did _give a brief nod of approval, however. He was silent for a moment, as if he expected me to actually say something to him. Then again, he was new. He didn't know how things worked. "Unless you have something to report... get out."

That cleared everything up quickly. The grunt left immediately, letting the door slide shut behind him. Again, the only light in the room was the glow of several screens; all showing the progress of the two worlds. I smiled, something that some might have found unsettling. "Soon, everything will be like it once was..." Glancing at one of the screens, I smiled even wider. "And you, Giratina... I could not do it without you."

The legendary ruler of the Reverse World, cast there forever by Arceus himself, lay tired and defeated; bound by a glowing red chain, the near-god was imprisoned in his own world.


End file.
